Over the Hills and Far Away
by Defying Gravity Elsa
Summary: Three weeks before Hans was scheduled to be released from Arendelle's prisons, the body of a guard is found in the washroom, and the murder weapon in his cell. He has an alibi to prove his innocence, but must keep it a secret in order to protect Elsa. Will Hans keep the secret and pay for a crime he didn't commit, or will Elsa put her reputation on the line to clear his name?


**My first Helsa fic! Yay! Thank you for deciding to read it!**

**This was inspired by the song "Over the Hills and Far Away" by Nightwish, and it will be a two-parter. It'll probably be a couple weeks before part two comes out, but I won't leave you guys hanging for too long!**

**Now, without further ado...**

"CHECK THE CELL!" cried a voice, followed by the sound of a heavy dungeon door being ripped open. Hans scrunched his eyes as he awoke from his slumber, the sound of heavy footsteps drumming in his ears. A thick hand grabbed him by the arm and yanked him off of his cot and pulled him to his feet. The owner of the heavy hand firmly latched onto his arm while another guard grabbed the other. Even though he was still bound by his shackles, they still held him with such a firm grip that he couldn't get out if he tried.

"What is going on?" Hans asked sleepily as two other guards searched around his cell.

"Ah hah!" said one guard as he pulled a small dagger with the Arendellean seal on the handle out from under a bucket in the corner of the cell. "As predicted, Ngöt's dagger is here," he said to the head guard.

"Then my suspicions were correct," said the head guard, Sten, referring to Hans.

"What the hell is going on?" Hans repeated his question, annoyance rising in his tone.

"Don't play dumb, Pretty Boy," sneered Ove, another guard. "You know what happened. And once the Queen finds out, your ass will be shipped back to the Southern Isles faster than you can blink."

"At best," added Sten. "Chances are, your head will be rolling down the chopping block after this little stunt." The other two guards holding Hans tightened their grip as Hans shot an angry, yet confused look their way. They remained stone-faced as Sten continued to stare at the prisoner.

"Place him in solitary. I will bring the dagger as evidence and notify the Queen," he barked. He wrapped the dagger in a cloth, placed it in his coat pocket, then unlocked Hans's shackles. The two men holding him tightened up their grip even harder, almost cutting off Hans's circulation. They dragged him out of his cell and down the prison halls, followed by Ove. When they reached the end of the hall, they threw him roughly into a tiny cell, big enough to house just a small cot and maybe a chair. There were no windows and there was padding on the walls. It was clear that this was where dangerous criminals were kept.

Ove locked new shackles around Hans's wrists before pushing him down on what little floor space there was. Hans felt blood trickle from his nose down his lip after he hit the floor. Ove just laughed at him.

"You had three weeks left of your sentence, boy," he began. "I knew the past five years were all fake, that you hadn't 'changed.' The Queen and Princess may have been fooled, but I wasn't. The Queen will especially be angry when she finds out her 'progress' with you was all a ruse."

"I have a right to know what I'm being accused of!" Hans spat as Ove kicked him in the stomach.

"Please, give it up. You know you killed Ngöt last night with his own dagger!"

"What?" protested Hans. "I did no such thing!"

"Then why did we find his dagger in your cell?" questioned Ove.

"I didn't even know it existed!"

"Bullshit, there's no other way it could have ended up there. Especially not under a bucket, a pathetically obvious place to hide a weapon."

"Don't you think that if I killed someone and had the murder weapon on me, I'd find a better place to hide it? Don't insult my intelligence," Hans snapped before Ove kicked him in the stomach again.

"Keep resisting, boy, you're only tying your noose tighter," he snapped as he walked out of the cell and slammed the door shut. Hans heard the sound of the lock clicking and Ove walking off.

_This must be how Anna felt all those years ago,_ he sighed. _Only it was worse, because she_ _thought I loved her. I was such an ass._ He pulled himself up onto the small cot and closed his eyes. His head was throbbing by now, and the blood from his nose had dried on his face.

_Someone must have slipped the dagger in my cell when I wasn't in there, _thought Hans. _Who hates me enough to frame me?_ Hans thought for a moment, then grimaced. _That doesn't narrow it down_. Although Queen Elsa had personally worked to help rehabilitate him and he had made notable progress in the past five years, most of the people of Arendelle still never forgave him. But then again, could he blame them? After all, he did try to kill their Queen and Princess in order to usurp the throne.

After he had been sent back to the Southern Isles, all those years ago, Hans was tried and briefly imprisoned in his own kingdom. However, his brother, King Klaus, felt that Queen Elsa should see to his punishment, since it was her life as well as her kingdom that he had threatened. Hans sighed when he remembered being sent back to Arendelle. He was so uncooperative at first— he struggled against the guards who handled him, he talked back, and generally showed no remorse for his actions. He was the victim, after all — after years of neglect from his own family, he took initiative to have his own kingdom, where he would be loved and respected, only to have it ruined by those two bratty sisters.

Hans remembered the first time Elsa had visited his cell. She had the coldest look in her eyes, as he expected. He was sitting on the floor, his hands shackled behind his back, as Elsa stood before him with an angry glare. He remembered laughing in her face, and responded to everything she said with a snarky remark. Needless to say, he spent a week in solitary after that. Hans broke from his thoughts and looked around his padded cell. _And here I am again,_ he thought remorsefully.

Taking a deep breath, Hans's first week in Arendelle continued to play in his head. When he had been let out of solitary confinement, Hans had been returned to his cell, only to find the Queen waiting for him again. This time, he was too tired to give her smart-ass answers to the questions she asked him. Even though he had been by himself for an entire week, it had been a long week. It was like being in the Southern Isles all over again, completely alone and ignored. His mind had gotten the better of him, and every horrendous thing that had ever been said or done to him played in his head. His anger completely took over, to the point where he could not sleep at night. His mind refused to settle down, despite the lack of stimulation in his cell. So when Queen Elsa asked him why he had done what he had done, he answered honestly, in the briefest way he could. He was too tired to fight her.

The next day, she visited his cell again, this time with a doctor. He was confused, for he was not physically ill. That's when Elsa revealed that this doctor dealt with illnesses of the mind, rather than the body. Every day, that doctor visited his cell and talked to Hans. At first, he was uncooperative, just like he had been with Elsa and the guards the week before, but when Elsa threatened him with another week of solitary, he complied.

It wasn't long before Elsa began sitting in on the sessions with Hans. He never understood why she was so interested in his therapy and in "fixing him," as he had overheard one guard say. But then again, he had held a sword over her neck— so naturally, she probably wanted to know what drove him to be that psychotic. Or maybe she felt sorry for him— no, that couldn't be it. Who would pity their would-be murder?

Either way, Elsa was involved. Many sessions ended with the doctor leaving, but Elsa remaining behind to talk with him further. He never knew why, but she seemed to understand him. That was definitely not something he was used to, and Elsa was the last person he would think to do so. Over the past five years, Elsa had learned pretty much everything there was to know about Hans, and he had even learned some things about her. The more he got to know her, the worse he felt for his actions.

Elsa had begun personal sessions with him, which usually consisted of him being escorted by herself and a guard throughout the gardens or the courtyard. Elsa felt like fresh air would do him some good, as well as allow him to take a break from being "the prisoner" and work towards becoming a better person. Hans wasn't sure exactly when he started to change, or even how it had happened, but eventually he found himself looking forward to his meetings with the Queen and wishing he could take back everything he had done to her and her sister.

Unfortunately, Anna took a little more time to warm up to him. She never said anything to him, nor did her new suitor, a brute, tall blonde man named Kristoff. Anytime Anna saw her sister and a guard escort Hans outside for their sessions, she would just shoot him a glare before walking off with Kristoff, and what appeared to be a talking snowman. Hans never responded, for he knew he deserved it. At least Elsa seemed to have faith in him, though.

However, that seemed to change one afternoon after one of their sessions. A guard had already cuffed Hans up and began to lead him to his cell. The gardener had called out to Elsa, so she bid Hans farewell and went off to talk to him. Just as the guard began to lead Hans away, Hans spotted a silver object out of the corner of his eye. It was just a pruning saw, nothing out of the ordinary for a gardener to be holding. But it was the way he was holding it that drew Hans's attention. While the gardener talked to Elsa, he moved the saw gradually closer and closer to her nonchalantly. Finally, he pointed at some snowdrops he had been planting, and told the Queen to take a look. His saw was only six inches away from her back as Hans came barreling between the two of them, hands still cuffed behind his back.

The pruning saw fell to the ground as Sten, a new guard at the time, rushed over and seized the gardener. The gardener continued to scream about how everyone else was fooled by Elsa's "tyranny" and how he was the victim in all this. As Sten dragged him to the prisons, Elsa helped Hans up. She was just about to thank him when the guard leading him ran over. He fussed about how Hans's running off could be considered defiance of the royal guards and would warrant punishment. Elsa immediately told the guard that Hans should not be punished for saving her life, and that if anything, he should be rewarded. The guard continued to protest, but backed down when he noticed ice forming at the Queen's fingertips, which were balled tightly in her fist.

Hans looked back on that day with a grin. How ironic that he had saved Elsa from a sharp object at her back, just like the one he held over her neck years ago. How ironic it was, as well, that now, the only two people who trusted Hans were the two people he tried to kill. Hans knew the sisters trusted him after that day — even Anna. Both sisters visited his cell more often, and Elsa lengthened her sessions with him. It felt good to know he was redeemed in their eyes. That they knew how truly sorry he was, and no longer viewed him as a threat.

Hans wondered if Elsa would think that he killed Ngöt. What would she think when Sten delivered her the news, as well as the bogus evidence? Would she send him straight to the gallows? Would she blame herself, thinking that her teachings failed? Or would she believe in his innocence? Would she stand up for him?

_Wait a minute, _thought Hans. _If they found the dagger this early in the morning, that guard must have been killed late last night. What was I doing and when could they have slipped the dagger in my cell? _His eyes grew wide as it hit him. He knew when it happened, and he had an alibi. _No, I can't... _he thought. _It would just hurt Elsa. _He closed his eyes and took a deep breath. _Shit._

* * *

"We found Ngöt's dagger hidden under a bucket in his cell, Your Majesty," Sten reported to Elsa. She listened intently with a look of disbelief on her face. He had come so far over the past five years... had he really stabbed a guard with his own dagger, three weeks before his scheduled release?

_No, he couldn't have, _thought Elsa. _Even if he did, he wouldn't be dumb enough to hide the weapon in such an obvious place. _It just didn't add up. Sure, Hans had been a traitor in the past, but he wasn't stupid. Killing a guard this close to his release date, then poorly hiding the dagger would have just been signing his own death warrant. Unless he didn't want to be released? After all these years, did he just want to be put to death?

"Your Majesty?" Sten interrupted Elsa's thoughts.

"Were there any fingerprints on the dagger?" She asked.

"They were all wiped off," said Sten, holding the freshly-powered dagger with a cloth.

"When did the murder occur?" Elsa continued.

"Late last night " he responded. "We found the body early this morning in the prison washroom. We placed Hans into solitary almost immediately."

_How could he sneak a dagger from the washroom back to his cell? _Elsa wondered. The pieces still weren't adding up. _Also, if the prints were wiped off of the dagger, wouldn't some of the blood be wiped off too? If that's the case, what did he wipe it on and where could it be?_

Then, it hit her. "Last night," Elsa murmured, as her eyes widened in realization. _He definitely didn't do it, _she thought as Sten stared at her, awaiting her instructions. "Let me see him," Elsa said objectively.

"Don't worry, your Majesty, we've taken every measure to make sure he doesn't repeat his offense. You don't need to burden yourself with dealing with such a traitor."

"It's not a request, let me see Hans," Elsa said with a little more force. Sten handed the dagger to another guard and instructed him to take it back to the guards' office. He then led Elsa down a long corridor, followed by a long staircase that lead to the castle's prison.

Elsa adjusted her eyes to the dimly lit halls as Sten lead the way before her, carrying a lantern. Her head was rushing with memories. That horrible day, five years ago, where she had been chained up herself, with the special shackles they only used for the really dangerous criminals — the ones that completely encased her hands. Suddenly, she smirked. _How ironic. This time, I'm down here to see him._

Once they finally reached the end of a long hall, Sten unlocked a door and held it open for Elsa. She gasped at what she saw. Hans was passed out on the tiny cot, with dried blood on his nose and mouth, and some very large bruises on his knees and legs.

"Who did this to him?" Elsa asked.

"Your Highness," said Sten with an equally shocked look on his face, "We used force when we arrested him, but I assure you he was not beaten under my watch."

"Who put him in here?"

"Ove and two of my other men brought him here. I will have a word with them and this will not happen again."

Elsa slowly stepped in the cell towards Hans. She looked back at Sten and asked, "May I talk to him? Alone, please?"

"Be quick," said Sten, shutting the cell door without locking it. Elsa sat on the cot and gently tapped Hans's shoulders.

"Hans," she gently called as his eyes began to blink open. He immediately smiled when he saw her.

"Elsa," he said softly, hoisting himself up slowly. He grunted as he clutched his stomach, still sore from being kicked around.

"What happened?" Elsa whispered, worry etched over her face.

"One of the guards... kicked me," he whispered back in between grunts. "Elsa, I promise... I didn't...kill anyone."

"I know you didn't," she said as she held her frosted hands to Hans's stomach in attempts to soothe the pain. "The murder happened last night, while we were..." She cut off, afraid to finish the sentence.

"I figured so," he replied as she brought her icy hands down to the bruises on his legs. "But we can't tell anyone, it has to remain a secret."

"No," said Elsa forcefully. "I won't stand by idly while you pay for a crime you didn't commit." She brought her hands up to his face and began to wipe the blood off.

"Elsa," began Hans. "If anyone finds out that you, an unwed young queen, were sleeping with a criminal, there'd be a scandal. It would ruin your reputation."

"I don't care," Elsa said, tears beginning to well up in her eyes as the temperature around them began to drop. "Hans, I'm not letting you take the fall for this."

"Well I'm not going to let you take the fall either. Even if we told everyone the truth, they'd never let us be together. Most of the kingdom hates me, and if they found out I were courting their queen, they'd stop at nothing to keep us apart. They'd probably charge you with treason."

"There has to be a way out of this," said Elsa, refusing to give up. "I am the queen after all, I have the final word on most matters."

"Elsa, even if you cleared everything legally, your people may resent you for it," Hans reasoned. "Please don't throw away the kingdom's trust or your reputation for me."

Elsa looked down at her lap, unsure of what to say. Finally, she broke down. "We should have never gotten together, then we wouldn't be in this mess," she said in between sobs. Hans leaned his forehead against hers, wishing his hands were free so he could wipe the fresh batch of tears falling down her face.

"Don't say that," he responded. "I've only come as far as I have because of you. If it weren't for you, I'd probably still be the sociopathic punk I was all those years ago." He paused as Elsa took a deep breath and rested her head on this shoulder and her hand on his chest. "Believe me, I'd rather be put to death than live my entire life without you in it."

Elsa wiped the tears off of her cheek. "You won't be put to death," she said firmly. "I won't let them. I will get you out of this somehow." _God, I'm starting to sound like my sister._

"Elsa, if you can find a way around this without exposing us, then by all means, go for it. But be careful. Please," Hans begged. Elsa took a deep breath as she rested her head on his chest. Unfortunately, the two were interrupted with a knock on the cell door.

"Your Majesty, are you alright?" Sten asked through he door.

"Yes, thank you," replied Elsa, trying to sound as stoic as possible. "I will be out in a minute."

Elsa turned back to Hans sadly. He leaned his forehead to hers once more and whispered, "Elsa, it will be OK. No matter what happens, I'll always be with you. I promise." With that, he leaned in and kissed her gently. She cupped his cheeks with her hands, brushing her fingertips along his sideburns, as she kissed back passionately. She sighed softly when they broke and gazed into his green orbs.

"I love you," she whispered as he kissed her forehead.

"I love you too. It'll be OK," Hans replied as she stood up from the cot. She slowly trudged to the door, afraid that this would be their last moment together. She looked back at him sadly as he gave her a small, reassuring smile before she opened the cell door and walked out, with Sten shutting and locking it behind her.

* * *

Elsa yawned the next morning as she sat at the meeting table, awaiting the guards and Hans. They were to meet to give Hans his sentence. She hadn't slept a wink the night before. She spent the entire night in the library, reading every law book she could find, desperate to find any argument or loophole she could find to clear Hans's name, without spilling their secret. Unfortunately, there was no way out without an alibi or decisive evidence proving him innocent. _But then again, _she thought, _there's no decisive evidence proving that he did do it. There weren't any finger prints on the knife. _

Sten had spent the evening interrogating the other prisoners to see if they had witnessed anything, per Elsa's request. After all, if Hans had murdered Ngöt in the washroom, wouldn't somebody had seen it? Prisoners went to the washroom in groups, escorted by guards. They were never unsupervised. But then again, he could have snuck out somehow...but if he did, how? Even then, when could he have gotten Ngöt alone and killed him without drawing the attention of nearby spectators? None of it made any sense.

Unfortunately, nobody had seen anything. Hans had been in the washroom early in the evening with some of the other prisoners, then returned to his cell, and nobody had seen him since. No other prisoners, no other guards…the more Elsa and Sten investigated, the stranger the case got. The best they could hope for was that there was not enough evidence to put Hans away. However, Elsa knew that the most trivial things could completely turn the case around. One oversight or loophole in the slightest could send Hans straight to the gallows. Her heart sunk at that possibility.

Her thoughts were interrupted at the sound of the large wooden doors opening. Sten lead the group of guards through them, with Ove and another guard escorting Hans. They placed him at the end of the table as the other guards sat down. He looked horrible —in addition to the bruises and cuts from the night before, he had dark circles underneath his eyes and was incredibly pale. It was clear that he had not slept either. He looked at Elsa with weary eyes. She had never seen so much fear in them. It strained her heart to see this ex-prince, whom had made so much progress and grown so much as a person, standing before her, weary and broken.

"Your Majesty," began Sten, "We have arrived to discuss the sentencing of Hans Westergard of the Southern Isles regarding the murder of Officer Wilhelm Ngöt on the evening of December 6, 1847."

"Yes, please present the details of the case," Elsa choked out, feeling frost form at her fingertips. Hans still stood before her, Ove and the other guard maintaining their grip on his arms.

"Ngöt's body was discovered in the prison washroom around two a.m.," began Sten. "The dagger was found at approximately three a.m. this morning, under a bucket in Hans Westergard's cell. There were no fingerprints, nor was there any blood, on the weapon. We suspect that the murder occurred between the hours of twelve and two, since the abundant amount of blood on Ngöt's body was completely dried, suggesting that he had been dead for a while."

"Where was Hans during those hours?" Elsa asked, her voice quivering. She looked at him briefly as they exchanged a knowing glance. Hans's eyes alone said all that he was thinking: _Don__'__t tell them._

"In the washroom, stabbing Ngöt!" Ove busted out accusingly.

"Officer Ove, Her Majesty asked me the question, not you. No more outbursts," said Sten, with a hint of harshness in his voice. "Your Majesty," he said as he turned back to Elsa, "According to the shift records from last night, Hans was not in his cell at one o'clock this morning. Officer Ove sent out a search for him but he was not found. It was during this search that Ngöt was found, and due to his absence, Hans became the primary suspect. We found him back in his cell around three o'clock this morning."

_Shit, _Elsa thought, sending another nervous glance towards Hans. _Even if he gets off, the guards will still investigate why he wasn't in his cell. _

"H-hans," Elsa spoke out nervously. Sten arched an eyebrow, confused at the queen's unease.

"I—" Hans began, looking nervously back at Elsa. He was backed into a corner. He knew what he had to say, and he knew that Elsa wouldn't like it. However, he had no choice. He took a deep breath, then continued. "I was in the washroom. I—" he paused, noticing Elsa's eyes growing like saucers. "I killed Ngöt." He hung his head and looked at his feet sadly. _I'm sorry, Elsa._

"I knew it!" Ove exclaimed happily as Elsa and Sten shot him a glare.

"Officer Ove, please be professional!" Sten snapped at him, then looked back at Elsa. "Your Majesty, do you wish to give the sentence?"

Elsa just continued staring at Hans in shock. She knew that he was going to keep their affair a secret, but she hadn't expected him to confess! She swallowed and took a deep breath, then looked back at Sten.

"He didn't murder anyone," she whispered. Hans's head shot up and shook his head lightly.

"Elsa—" he began, as Ove interrupted.

"That's 'Queen Elsa' to you, and do not interrupt Her Majesty!" He barked. He turned back towards Elsa. "Your Majesty, he just confessed to the crime! That's enough to put him away!"

"HE DIDN'T DO IT," Elsa snapped back. Everyone looked at her in bewilderment as snowflakes began to softly dust the room. "Hans was with me," she said defeatedly. She looked down at her lap as Hans stared at her worriedly.

"Doing what?" Sten asked quietly, arching an eyebrow.

"We were in my bedroom," she whispered in embarrassment, still looking down at her lap. Sten's jaw shot downwards as the other guards gasped. Hans just hung his head down, his face flush with mortification. After a few moments of silence, Ove spoke up.

"You took advantage of our queen!" He shouted at Hans.

"Wait! No! It wasn't like that," Elsa protested, as Sten arched an eyebrow. "He didn't tale advantage of me," she began, her voice still quivering as Hans looked anxiously back at her. She clenched her fist as she felt the ice build up in her palms. "I wanted him there."

"Hans Westergard, please tell the truth. What happened last night?" Sten asked him sternly. Hans took a deep breath as he mustered up the strength to speak. This was _not _how this was supposed to go.

"I did not kill anyone," he said softly. "I was with the Queen, in her chambers."

"If that is the case, then that would make you innocent. However," Sten noted, "If word gets out that you were with the queen, there would be quite the scandal."

"Your Majesty, do not feel obligated to protect this lowly prisoner!" said Ove.

"He is innocent," Elsa snapped back.

"At this time, I'm afraid a verdict is impossible," Sten said in a booming voice. "Your Majesty, unfortunately, there is no solid evidence that proves Hans's guilt _or _innocence. Protocol requires that we send him to another kingdom temporarily while we investigate the matter further."

"Why can't we keep him in our prisons?" Elsa asked with a glare.

"I'm sorry, Your Majesty, but if Hans did commit the murder, then he is dangerous to the other inmates as well as the staff."

"Then put him back in solitary," Elsa snapped back, her patience wearing thin and a sheet of frost coating the arms of her throne.

"I'm sorry, Your Majesty, but this just protocol. I promise, the truth will come out and if Hans is innocent, he will return unharmed," assured Sten. "Men, let's take him away. Under NO circumstances is he to be harmed."

The guards began to haul Hans away. He turned his head to look back at Elsa, whose eyes were as wide as saucers. She looked back at him with the most worried, heartbroken face he had ever seen. He whispered a silent goodbye, then hung his head as the guards lead him to the docks.

**Oh noes! What will happen next? Stay tuned!**

**Trivia fact, "Sten" means "Stone" and "Ove" means "Terror" in Norwegian. :)**

**Thank you so much for reading this and please leave me a review! Also, if you want to follow or RP with me on Tumblr, my user name is defyinggravity-elsa. Thank you so much!**


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